Dat Lean

So, its a snow day where I am, and after taking her out for her first awesome proper snowy 4x4 ride, I came back and put her in the garage. Decided I would take some measurements finally. I'm at a half tank of gas. I first tried the center of hub to bottom of fender measuring, but realized it would never be perfect since its hard to eye exactly the center of the hub and place the tape measure there.

So, I figured I'd attach the tape measure metal piece to the bottom ridge of each rim instead of the center of the hub, as I can pull up and know I'm measuring the same spot on each wheel. The rear driver side sagged only 1/16 of an inch compared to the rear passenger side. So basically level in my book. The front driver side sagged 1/4 of an inch compared to the right driver side. So not bad I guess or anything out of the ordinary in taco lean terms.

But here is the kicker now, and the purpose of this post. I noticed the front left wheel was laying on an old piece of carpet I have in the garage, while the right wheel was not. I figured this shouldn't really matter, but I said screw it and backed out a little bit, maybe 4 feet back. Then, I remeasured and the front left came up practically level... maybe 1/8 of an inch difference to the right wheel.

So, it would seem that if not on a perfectly even surfaces, the measurements might get thrown off slightly. I thought that was the whole point of measuring center of hub, and not to the ground... but it seems the wheel can still move up or down slightly depending on the surface and what its sitting on.

 

Also, just talked with Toyota Customer Service on another thing with my truck. Mentioned the lean and of course the CS guys don't know anything so told me to go to my dealer. Haha. Maybe i'll have them double check everything when I bring her in for her 5k check up, but would then expect some weird looks and a "its within spec" answer, which after reading on here sounds like it is and its what they actually say, too. Until then, no more annoying ejewels!

 

You had me until "did I burn the inch"

 

Ha! I actually googled it and nothing came up when he posted that. I'm thinking maybe it means round up or down?

 

It means measure off the 1” mark and not the end of the tape.

 

Lol are you SURE you googled it?

 

**random sarcasm**

 

actually no I was being legit. I only looked at the first few results though on google.

 

Haha, sorry, I was referring to my original post .. things get mixed up easy on these message boards. I should have been more clear. It's all good

 

So just measured at basically an empty tank. Measurements seemed to stay the same, only went up 1/8" I'd say.

 

You know it leans side to side when you drive it right? It’ll settle different every day with loads, temperature, driving habits, gas tank, pavement, parking, etc.

Who fucking cares? O yeah the OCD owners on this forum when they hear a little noise and get their entire truck replaced by the dealership.

It’s. A. Truck.

 

It’s a carpenter thing. Similar to the CH precision measuring system, as seen on this tape:

 

If you zoom in, it looks bigger.

 

You're right. Its about whether its normal or not (which apparently it is). I learned this already. I was just posting for others that might come here and wonder the same things. Some people care more about their 35k investment and want it to be near perfect. If you don't care about getting your money's worth, thats cool... I do.

 

50 grand, its yours.

 

Seriously off-kilter....lol

 

Is it true the lean is also due to bad body mount bushings? I’ve seen people say that’s the real issue, but most say it’s whats been discussed in this thread. Seems you can read anything over here on TW!

 

Where do you get this shit, I thought you said you do research?

"Taco lean" started when they relocated the battery and gas tank to the driver side in 1995, the first year they started calling trucks Tacomas. My 88 and 91 never had the lean because the tank and battery were on the passenger side, this worked to counter the weight of the driver.

 

Just reading around this site. A few people actually have commented that the body mount bushings would essentially crush more and cause the lean. Granted, it was on a second gen thread.